NEW DELHI: To increase regional air connectivity, five small airports are being constructed in different states at an estimated cost of Rs 740 crore, the government said today.

Mahesh Sharma, who is the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said the government has decided to develop small airports at Tier-II and Tier-III cities in order to promote regional and remote area air connectivity.

In this regard, five locations -- Hubli and Belgaum (Karnataka), Kishangarh (Rajasthan), Jharsuguda (Odisha) and Tezu (Arunachal Pradesh) -- have been identified.

"The estimated project cost for Hubli is Rs 141.44 crore, Belgaum is Rs 141.87 crore, Kishangarh is Rs 160.05 crore, Jharsuguda is Rs 200 crore and Tezu is Rs 96.5 crore," Sharma said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Together, the estimated cost for constructing the five airports would be Rs 739.86 crore.

Sharma said construction work has already started at these locations.

The timelines for completion of the airport projects depend on many factors like availability of requisite land, mandatory regulatory clearances, environmental clearances, traffic projections and provision of support services by the state government such as access road to the airport, water and power supplies, he added.

Sites for the airports were identified on the criteria of population, availability of land and the potential for tourism and industry.